13 Reasons Why Working in Retail Should be a Prerequisite to Life

Related:
– How to talk to Anyone
– Store Manager Site Walk
– EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches (Audiobook) by Dave Ramsey

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Transcripts:
1. You learn how to deal with people and realise how much they suck. From picking battles to being diplomatic and professional. treat nearly all customers like they’re clueless babies who don’t know what they want but they want it now. It’s your job to guide their clueless butts and educate them so they will kind of remember the next time. From Politics and diplomacy – you’ll learn how to manage your managers. Otherwise they’ll use you as they see fit because that is what they’re being paid to do. Let them know if you have needs and what you’re willing to do for a promotion, more hours, specific times off, etc. The more you please your manager and foresee their needs the more they will subconsciously be in debt to you. Unless you’re under bad management then you need to find a way around it. My favourite way was a mediation with someone superior or HR just for a ‘clearing of the air’, if not just transfer elsewhere. So of my staff were so stubborn to budge and ended up worse off just because they wanted to teach someone a lesson or too comfortable in their routine.

2. Creating relationships from all walks of life. In your own time you tend to mostly flock with your own feathered kind and stick in your comfort zone. When you meet different people you become less judgmental on how others do things and get a better understanding of cultures, ages, genders, etc. With customers too – Connect with your regulars, the 3rd time you see the same customer get to know their name. Checkout the link below on how to talk to anyone and build rapport. If it wasn’t for my regulars and awesome workmates I would not have lasted as long as I did.

3. You will not have time to be weak and whiney. The ones that complain a lot don’t usually have work to do and the ones working will usually oust these babies.

4. One of the big things I learnt was how to make sales, upselling, offering discounts and finding the perfect deal or option for the customer. This will help you for the rest of your life.

5. Your time management will get a fine tuning because people are relying on you to be on time so they can finish their shift and you rely on them for the same. You need to finish specific tasks so you don’t create more work for others and end up being the weak link. If you get put on different shifts you’ll develop the skill of juggling various commitments in your life.

6. You’ll develop a thick skin for thick people. Rude customers, opinionated colleagues and some direct or mean bosses. Your level of patience will skyrocket.

7. You’ll become more solution oriented when coming across such people as it’s the fastest and easiest way your of any drama. One thing I loved sharing was for any complain, before going to a superiors about it, think of 3 solutions and put those forward. I got a lot of brownie points for that one.

8. Cleanliness will become your second nature if it wasn’t. Rearranging clothes, wiping things down, dusting places you’d never think of. Your parents or partner will love you for it.

9. Giving 110%. You’ll quickly realise that the pay sucks but the more you give the more doors you’ll open for yourself and this is a big lesson in life. Responsibility = power so the more you take on the more you are in control. I cannot begin to explain how important it is to start at the bottom and climb up because life is going to give you some hard knocks and you’ve been at the bottom and now know how to get back up.

10. One of my managers taught me that ‘sales fix everything’ so as long as you keep the sales going you will do right by everyone.

11. Multitasking (even thought I don’t believe in it and think of it more as task switching). You will become a master of being able to serve an angry customer while taking a phone call while making sure the area is clean while making sure that spill has a safety sign around it.

12. Other skills you’ll learn – safety of everyone around, making sure the store is compliant with the law, cash handling and mental math, being ok with missing out on socials, marketing, merchandising, stocktaking, clearance, expiry dates, the list goes on.

13. You will become a good leader to your colleagues as there are always new staff joining the team that need guidance, training and support.

Remember the most important thing is that you want to better yourself in life and be ready for what it’s going to give you and retail my not pay well in money but what you’ll learn if you are willing to take it on is priceless. Retail to me is a stepping stone or second part-time job for money and a fantastic education to the school of life. It’s not something you want to do for life unless you own the store or are fulfilled in it either financially or otherwise. With the amount of free material online there is just so much more out there to make a life.